Stocks Mixed, But S&P 500 Hits Five-Year High

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Major U.S. stock averages were mixed Friday as the benchmark S&P 500 Index worked its way up to a five-year high.

The S&P 500 climbed 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,486, bringing its gain to 0.95% this week. Surprisingly bleak U.S. consumer confidence and a lagging technology sector weighed on the markets. Still, the S&P 500 is at its highest close since Dec. 26, 2007.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 54 points, or 0.4%, to 13,650. The blue-chip index gained 1.2% for the week and finished up six of the past seven days.

The Nasdaq lost 1 point to 3,135. The tech-heavy index rose 0.29% for the week.

Most sectors in the broad market rose. Conglomerates marched higher as General Electric, the largest U.S. conglomerate, advanced. Utilities and energy were also up. Lagging sectors were led by technology, consumer-cyclicals and health care.

Volumes totaled 3.77 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange and 1.85 billion shares on the Nasdaq. Advancing issues were outpacing decliners by a ratio of 1.9-to-1 on the Big Board, and 1.2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.

The University of Michigan consumer confidence index showed a read of 71.3 for January, falling from the final December print of 72.9. It was a big miss compared with the 75 level expected by economists and the weakest since December 2011.

"Escalation of the battle of wills in Washington surrounding the previous survey period saw both current and forward-looking expectations fall by the most in 21 months, and so far little respite is apparent in the current reading," Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak, said of the consumer confidence report.

In earnings news, General Electric posted fourth-quarter earnings of 44 cents a share on revenue of $39.3 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of 43 cents a share on revenue of $38.74 billion, as five of the seven industrial segments achieved double-digit earnings growth. Shares gained 3.5% on Friday.